Boys and Boars
by UchiQueen
Summary: A childish Uchiha cause worry, but he never ceases to warm the hearts those around him. Sasuke attempts to redeem himself after the mishap on his mission with Itachi. Sasuke-centric. One-shot.


**Hey all, I am back again for round three, and the stars are again the Uchihas. This was again, written at an earlier date, but it is Sasuke-centric and based right after the boar hunt he goes on with Itachi. I do not own Naruto, enjoy!**

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The characteristically wide smile of the younger Uchiha brother had dimmed in the face of his task.. _skinning and cleaning his kill_.

It had always seemed so much easier when Itachi-nii set to work, slicing and diving without so much as sweating or even batting an eyelash. Hesitating for only a second more, Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and stuck out his tongue in disgust as he carefully brought down the carving knife on the smaller boar's head. Blood seeped and splashed out of the carcass and onto the plastic that lay under it, his mother's foresight, as he beheaded it.

"Eww.." He muttered as stale, cooling blood splattered on his already grimy clothing.

Pausing in his ministrations, he grinned, the clean cut through the boars head proved to be enough of a success for him to bounce on his toes twice. "Aniki would be **so** pleased!" he thought.

All hesitation lost at that thought, the young Uchiha dropped to his knees, and again focused on the task at hand. Moving closer to the carcass, Sasuke began to pull at the skin, cutting slowly and carefully, so as to not take off any meat with it. Again, his little tongue poked through his lips as he began to sweat along his hairline and back, it had been a long day..

First hunting by himself, which his mother had scolded him for, and now this. Wiping his hand across his sweaty forehead, he unknowingly stained it red as he finished skinning the beast. Examining his handiwork, he frowned, a seriousness he rarely showed on his face.

"Perfect..!" He proclaimed, and after a moment, another smile broke across his face as he detached the skin and set it to the side.

"Maybe nii-san and I can go sell it!" He laughed, grabbing the tray that was almost as wide as he was tall, "Time to prepare the meat or whatever Aniki calls it..!" He set the tray on the floor next to the carcass, picking up the knife once more. Mimicking the moves he'd watched so carefully, his expression grew hard. Little fists gripping harshly at the craving knife, he made his first cut, slowly he powered his way through the meat, forcing his hands not to shake. He **had** to be as perfect as Itachi-nii..!

His smile returned as a slab that was nearly, if not, identical to the one his brother had cut fell onto the tray. He was tasting his first success. "I can't wait until Aniki returns." The usual excitement Sasuke held for Itachi's returns from his missions seemed to triple, giving him a new high. An endorphin rush that made him, for a lack of a better term, hyper.

"He's gonna be so proud of me.." He whispered more to himself, hoping he'd make up for the failure of the previous 'mission'. He shook his head, warding off the impending dark clouds, his eyes sparkling as he realized he'd been wasting time..!

He began to cut, surer of himself now, and quicker, he was flawless. Having not forgotten a thing Itachi taught him, Sasuke never flattered, even removing the organs unscathed..

Even if he did groan and gag at touching the heart and liver.

"Insides are yucky.." He muttered, panting as he lifted the overly full tray.

He soon marched, a rather overly satisfied grin on his face as he placed it on the counter in front of his mother with a clatter. "Finished..!"

He grinned at her shocked expression, unaware it was more at his state than at his accomplishment..

"Sasuke!" Mikoto found herself speechless, halfway torn between scolding him and congratulating him.

"Okaa-chan..! I did good, ne..? I'm gonna go bathe before nii-san gets home..!" He grinned, racing off before he could even register the soft look that had overtaken his mother's shock.

"Baka.." She chuckled, lifting up the tray and setting to work on preserving some of the meat and preparing a feast..

Her sons, they were her pride and joy. As she thought it, her elder son walked in, stretching stiffly. "Ohayō Okaa-chan.."

She smiled, setting the tray down again. "Ohayō Itachi, you have good timing..! Go freshen up, I'm making dinner now." He waved her off, stifling a yawn as he walked toward the bathroom.  
He stretched, dropping his gear along the way to the bathroom, only to freeze by the door, hearing a small snore echoing from the inside.

_Sasuke_.

_His_ precious little brother was floating in a bath of blood, his face _**streaked**_ with the substance as he smiled, slumbers untainted. "_S-Sasuke..!_"

The recent events in his life and the state of his brother caused the powerful Uchiha to conclude the worst as he paled, stumbling forward. "_**Sasuke..! Wake up!**_"

Sasuke mumbled something about boars and groaned, forehead creasing as his cloudy eyes opened.

"Aniki..?" Sasuke's head slowly cleared and he grinned, launching himself at his brother. Not seeing the tears that threatened to spill. "Nii-san..! I have a surprise for you! You'll be so.."

Sasuke pulled back, flattering as he registered his older brother's expression. Tears..? He pouted, wiping his eyes clear.

"Foolish little.." He muttered, looking away. Sasuke tilted his head, trying to understand _why_..

"_Aniki_.. I want you to be _happy_..!" He pulled at his brother's hair, cheeks, clothes. Throwing a tantrum, by all rights, but not for selfish reasons, no. For _his_ brother. Itachi finally cracked a smile after a moment of just staring at the little terror, proceeding to turn on the cold water over his little brother.

"**NII-SAN!**" Shrieks and laughter echoed, time passed, until the smell of food wafted upstairs causing Sasuke to freeze, in the middle of dumping hot water over Itachi's head, no less.

"Nii-san, let's **go**..!" The tiny Uchiha grinned and tugged the soaked Itachi after him, almost heading down into the dining room with nothing but a towel over his head, only to be redirected to his room to change by an exhausted and exasperated elder brother.

"Hai.. Hurry though..!" Sasuke warned, before running into his room and pulling on the closest clothes to him. Which, while efficient, left the grinning terror wearing a shirt that was too big and pants from last week.

He giggled at his _feat_, even beating Itachi to the table. "Okaa-chan, did you make his favorites?" He whispered innocently, unaware that Itachi was behind him and that his father was staring at him, his scowl a little less pronounced today than other days.

"Hai..! There's tomatoes too, and you brought your father's favorite meat..!"

Sasuke grinned, quickly scurrying to his place and sitting. Itachi cleared his throat, sitting next to his little brother.

"Okaa-san, the food looks good." A well placed compliment, he simply observed as both Sasuke and their mother smiled happily at it, his father merely shaking his head slightly.

"Arigato! Demo, Sasuke is the one that brought back that boar!" Mikoto laughed quietly, beginning to eat as the two men stared at the little boy that was happily eating after a long day of work, ergo mischief.

"**Our**-"

"_Sasuke_ _did what?_"

The boy in question looked up innocently, tomato smeared slightly to the left side of his lips. He pouted, not really helping their disbelief, only noticing that Aniki and his father were not eating..

"Ne..? What's wrong? Isn't the food good?" The two men looked at each other, paling for different reasons, before the head of the household cleared his throat and began to eat.

"Foolish little brother.. What if something had happened to you..?" The youngest Uchiha wrinkled his nose, not understanding what they were talking about.

"Leave it Itachi.." His mother whispered, causing him to frown further. This was all wrong. When Itachi did it, everyone praised him..

When Itachi did it, everyone was _happy_..!

Pushing his plate away, Sasuke mumbled. "I'm not hungry.."

It wasn't fair..

He blinked repeatedly, vision suddenly hazy. Why couldn't he do anything right!?

As he wallowed in his self-made circle of pity, he completely missed the silent exchange that passed between the other inhabitants of the table. After a long silence, a sigh rang out, and Fugaku spoke. "This meat is simply astounding.. Perhaps better than Itachi's last kill."

A small noise of wonder left Sasuke's lips, and he stared at his father. No redness, no blood, no greenness, no weird smiles of anything, so why..? There didn't _seem_ to be anything wrong with him..

"Otou-san.. Are you sick..?" He blinked innocently, unaware of that the coughs coming from his mother were failed attempts to hide her laughter.

"... No." Of course he wasn't, his father was **never** wrong or ill.

"The onigiri is excellent, seaweed and boar meat.. Interesting." The murmur that left Itachi's lips was so quiet it seemed to almost be a hum, barely holding any substance, except for the one he said it for.

Of course, it had it's desired effect, Sasuke's bubble of despair nearly vanished, and his lips started to turn upward.

"Makotoni..?" He whispered. His mother's voice almost completely covered his, surer and louder.

"That was Sasuke's idea, I never realized how much attention he pays to our habits before.. It's so sweet..!" She laughed happily, smiling at her younger son as the other two made noises of agreement and the balance slowly restored itself.

"Arigato.." He mumbled, finding himself blushing under the gaze of his mother.

He again began to smile, and pulled his plate closer, stomach grumbling as he inhaled the the rich smell of his mother's food.

"It smells so good Okaa-chan!" He giggled, biting into the food, all but forgetting his previous tensions. "It tastes even better! Arigato!"

He was so blissfully oblivious to the air of tension that left as Itachi ruffled his hair, smiling.

"No, foolish little brother.. Thank _you_."

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**_Fin._**


End file.
